Rich Guggenheim - Freedom Voter Guide

Party:

Republican

District:

25

Office:

State Senate

richforsd25.com

RichForSd25

Survey Responses:

S = Support
O = Oppose
NR = No Response

Life	S	O	NR
1. Protecting Life: Protecting the right to life of an unborn baby with a beating heart.	X
2. Taxpayer Funded Abortion: Allowing taxpayer dollars to fund organizations that provide abortion.		X
3. Physician-Assisted Suicide: Allowing voluntary physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients.		X

First Amendment	S	O	NR
4. Conscience Rights for Professionals: Prohibiting the government from denying required licensure or certification to individuals because of their religious or political beliefs.	X
5. Conscience Rights for Faith-Based Organizations: Exempting faith-based organizations (e.g. adoption/foster care providers, private schools) from regulations that cause them to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.	X
6. Prohibiting De-Banking/Insuring Based on Beliefs: Prohibiting financial institutions from shutting a customer’s bank account or canceling their insurance because of their religious or political views.	X

Family	S	O	NR
7. Protecting Kids from Social Media: Requiring platforms to by default prevent underage accounts without parental permission, preserve parents' authority when access is allowed, and remove addictive design features and data exploitation from underage accounts.	X
8(a). Parental Rights: Allowing parents to obtain professional counseling for a child struggling with gender confusion to help the child find comfort with his or her biological sex.	X
8(b). Parental Rights: Protecting parents from losing custody of their child solely because they treat their child consistent with his or her biological sex.	X

Candidate's Comments:

As Director of Legislation for Gays Against Groomers and a same-sex attracted man who survived conversion therapy, I have worked directly with Alliance Defending Freedom on multiple U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs defending parental rights, protecting children from irreversible harm, and challenging speech restrictions on counselors (including Chiles v. Salazar). Gays Against Groomers was formed because many of us who are gay and lesbian recognize that today’s gender ideology frequently targets same-sex attracted youth with experimental medicalization that functions as a new form of conversion therapy. Parents must retain the authority to seek professional counseling that helps a child find comfort with his or her biological sex, without risking the loss of custody for doing so. Social media platforms must also default to parental permission for underage accounts and strip away addictive design and data exploitation that prey on children.These positions are not theoretical for me. They are the direct result of both my personal experience and years of legislative and legal work alongside ADF to keep parents, not activists or platforms, in charge of their children’s well-being.

Education	S	O	NR
9. School Choice: Allowing the use of tax credits, vouchers, and/or education savings accounts to cover the cost of children attending the school of their parents’ choice, including private religious schools.	X
10. Free Speech at School: Protecting teachers and students from being forced to refer to a person by inaccurate pronouns that do not align with the person’s sex.	X
11. School Healthcare Disclosure to Parents: Requiring schools to inform parents of any mental, physical, or emotional health information and treatment that a child is receiving at school.	X
12. Transparency in School Curriculum & Activities: Giving parents access to the curriculum, presentations, and activities that their children are learning in school and allowing them to opt their children out of school extra-curricular activities, presentations, or specific lessons to which the parents object.	X

Candidate's Comments:

As a proponent of Protect Kids Colorado, I traveled to all 64 counties building grassroots support for legislation that restores parental authority and protects children. I have also filed my own writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging government-mandated use of preferred names and pronouns that conflict with biological sex. In the Colorado General Assembly I personally testified against HB24-1071, HB24-1017, and HB25-1312, bills that advanced compelled speech, weakened parental notification, and expanded gender ideology in schools and foster care. Parents, not schools or the state, should decide where their children are educated, including private religious schools through tax credits, vouchers, or education savings accounts. Teachers and students must not be forced to use language that denies biological reality. Schools have a duty to keep parents fully informed of any mental, physical, or emotional health information or treatment involving their child, and parents must have transparent access to curriculum with the clear right to opt their children out of materials or activities that conflict with their values.These are not theoretical positions. They are the direct result of years spent organizing across Colorado, testifying against specific legislation, and litigating at the highest levels to keep parents in control of their children’s education and identity.

Health and Welfare	S	O	NR
13. Medical Rights of Conscience: Protecting health care workers from losing their jobs if they decline to participate in a procedure or treatment that violates their personal beliefs and conscience.	X
14. Women’s Privacy: Preventing males who identify as female from entering sex-separated spaces intended for females, such as showers, locker rooms, bathrooms, dormitories, women’s shelters, prisons, etc.	X
15. Protecting Pregnancy Centers: Ensuring pregnancy centers that provide life-affirming support to women and their families are not targeted or penalized by government officials.	X

Candidate's Comments:

I was present at the U.S. Supreme Court for the Title IX case and served as a proponent of the girls’ sports ballot measure in Colorado. I have worked alongside advocates such as Riley Gaines and Jen Sey, and I have testified across the country on these issues, including in Wyoming to help pass legislation protecting female-only sex-segregated spaces and rights. As someone who has also witnessed what is happening at Children’s Hospital in Denver, I strongly support protecting a doctor’s right to decline irreversible medical procedures that violate their conscience and their oath to do no harm. Health care workers must not lose their jobs for refusing to participate in treatments that conflict with their deeply held beliefs. Males who identify as female must not be allowed to enter sex-separated spaces intended for females, including showers, locker rooms, bathrooms, dormitories, women’s shelters, and prisons. Pregnancy centers that provide life-affirming support to women and their families must be protected from government targeting and penalties. These positions flow directly from my work defending women’s and girls’ rights, parental authority, and medical ethics in Colorado and beyond.